It had been a while since I read William Zinsser’s classic guide to writing, On Writing Well.

I grabbed it off my bookshelf to share at a writing class I taught at the recent Digital Journalism Camp in Portland – then took it with me on vacation.

I own the book’s fifth edition, which came out in 1994. The only things about it that’s dated is a discussion of the advantage of writing on a computer v. in longhand and a few references to long-dead writers you may or may not have ever read (E.B. White yes, S.J. Perelman, no). The latest 30th anniversary edition, the seventh overall, came out in 2006.

Despite its age, On Writing Well is still relevant as a reference for what to do and what to avoid in many forms of nonfiction: newspaper and magazine articles, travel, sports and humor writing, criticism, memoir – even memos, newsletters and emails you may need to produce for work.

Zinsser’s advice to write tight and bright is especially relevant in a world of shrinking word counts and Internet readers who can’t be bothered to scroll past a story’s opening screen.

If you don’t already have this on your bookshelf, get a copy. Until then, here’s some of my favorite Zinsser advice:

On words – Read your articles out loud to see how they flow. Don’t use words you wouldn’t use in the course of normal conversation. Avoid jargon and cliches. Less is more. Active v. passive.

On the writing process. Writing is hard, even for the pros, the more you do it, the (slightly) easier it gets. Writing is rewriting. Being a writer isn’t about being a certain type of person, it’s about doing the work.

On style – Style is sounding like you on the page, not like anyone else. Zinsser writes:

Sell yourself, and your subject will exert its own appeal. Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Proceed with confidence, generating it by willpower. Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going.

On interviews – Write questions out beforehand. Use some form of shorthand to take notes even if you’re recording. Get more material than you think you’ll need. Pay attention to detail. I didn’t realize how much of this I’d absorbed until I read his chapter on interviews then looked at the notes I’d made for that Digital Journalism Camp class on conducting interviews – his influence is obvious.

On leads and endings – If the first line of your story doesn’t grab readers, they’ll never read the second. Hook them with the lead and keep the good stuff coming. Even when you’re writing nonfiction, writing has to be entertaining for people to stick around. Pay attention to how you finish things. Don’t just re-state the lead – circle back to an opening anecdote, close with a bang-up quote, or simply finish telling the story.

On tackling science, technology and other complex subjects – Make sure you understand how what you’re writing about works or you’ll never be able to explain it to readers. Avoid jargon. Include people to keep things real.

On editors – Good ones can make decent stories better, and decent writers better too. Bad ones drive writers crazy, by changing style, voice, content, organization, and generally treating them “like hired help.”

Some of his closing words are a freelance writer’s anthem:

…The purposes that writers serve must be their own. What you write is yours and nobody else’s. Take your talent as far as you can and guard it with your life. Only you know how far that is: no editor knows. Writing well means believing in your writing and believing in yourself, taking risks, daring to be different, pushing yourself to excel. You will write only as well as you make yourself write.

Finished that story? Not quite. Here’s a 10-point checklist of things to review before hitting “Send” to turn in a completed assignment to an editor:

1. Spelling and grammar – Use spell check, but don’t rely on it, read each paragraph over yourself.

2. Sources – Double check spellings, titles, ages and locations. If they’re not correct you’ll hear about it.

3. Headline, deck and subheads – The publication you’re writing for may not require these, but do it anyway, especially if you have a clever idea.

4. Bio – Better to describe yourself as you want than some harried editor.

5. Source list – Some publications want a source list for fact checking purposes. Even if they don’t, it’s not a bad idea to pull sources’ contact information out of your notes to plug into Outlook or so you can send a LinkedIn invitation to someone you want to stay in touch with should you want to interview them again.

6. Links – Because these days every story ends up online and you’ll make a friend on the copy desk if you look up relevant URLs for them.

7. Sidebars – If you did one, are you sending it in the same file or as a separate document? If the latter, make it easy on your editor and turn in both documents at the same time. Be sure to refer to both in your cover email.

8. Charts and graphs -See no. 7. Keeping all the elements of a story package together is the best way to prevent an over-worked editor from losing something and then emailing you about it.

9. Art – If you’re responsible for collecting head shots or other file art for a story, attach it to your email. If you’ve already submitted it, indicate as much. Again, it’s all about making life as easy as possible for your editor – they’ll thank you for it, and hopefully, send more work your way because of it.

10. Invoice - If your contract stipulates sending an invoice along with a story by all means take advantage of that – why wait longer than you have to to get paid. If not, fill out an invoice and have it ready to submit as soon as you get your editor’s OK. I keep pending invoices queued up in Outlook’s Drafts folder.

Here’s one more for good measure – When you turn in an assignment, thank the editor for the opportunity and ask if you can pitch something else. Be sure to inquire if there’s a type of story or section of the publication they need pitches for. If you get a positive response send something right away. Use the mutual good feeling that comes with turning in an assignment to your advantage.

What else do you check before turning in an assignment?

While I’m on vacation this week, I’ll be rerunning some of the best WordCount posts of the year. Look for new posts, including my predictions for the top digital media personalities to watch in 2009, starting January 5. Happy New Year!

Today’s reruns: how to improve your writing.

25 tips for better freelance writing

Good writing is all about context

Make headline news

7 steps to cutting a story that’s too long

You don’t need to be serious to write about serious topics

Write great blog posts

7 tips for writing a great press release

When the words won’t come – overcoming writer’s block